Nissan's electric Leaf to be built in the UK

Nissan has today confirmed that it is to produce its new zero emissions electric car at the company's Sunderland factory, safeguarding thousands of jobs in the North East.

The Nissan Leaf, which Wired has actually driven, will be the firm's first electric vehicle when it goes on sale in limited markets later this year. Production of the Leaf will begin at the plant in 2013, with around 50,000 units expected to be produced each year.

Today's announcement will come as a huge boost to the factory that currently produces the Qashqai, Qashqai+2, Micra and Note cars, as the Sunderland site was previously only set to make the new lithium-ion batteries that will power the Leaf. Production of the batteries will begin in April, with over 60,000 units expected to be manufactured each year.

The Leaf will be assembled on the plant's "Number 2" line, which it will share with the Juke -- a new compact crossover car that will begin production in August this year. Around 4,000 staff currently work at the site, which produces over 330,000 vehicles per year. Production of the Leaf will protect around 2,250 jobs at the plant and throughout the supply chain.

The five-door electric Leaf is based on an all-new electric platform that will form the basis for other cars in Nissan's future EV range. Power comes from an 80kW electric motor that will return a top speed of 90mph and allow for up to 100 miles of driving between charges that will take as little as 30 minutes for an 80 percent recharge.